{"id":586199,"date":"2026-04-05T02:29:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T02:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/586199\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T02:29:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T02:29:08","slug":"patriots-draft-needs-2026-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/586199\/","title":{"rendered":"Patriots Draft Needs 2026 NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

Patriots Draft Needs 2026 NFL Draft<\/a> originally appeared on NESN<\/a>. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The New England Patriots<\/a> pulled off a complete rebuild in the 2025 offseason. The team drafted seven contributors and five starters with its 11 picks in the 2025 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n

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The Patriots head into this April\u2019s draft with fewer needs and just as many picks. However, head coach Mike Vrabel is still looking to pick up a starter or two at these key positions.<\/p>\n

Edge Rusher<\/p>\n

I am on record saying that edge rusher is the most overrated position in the NFL (production simply does not lead<\/a> to wins). However, the draft is the perfect place to find your pass rushers before they start demanding quarterback-like contracts. The Patriots’ biggest need is on the edge. If I were a betting man, I would expect this to be addressed with the first round pick.<\/p>\n

Tight End<\/p>\n

I believe the Patriots’ second-most pressing need comes at the tight end position. Hunter Henry is 31-years-old and entering the third and final year of his contract. The depth behind Henry is less than inspiring. Backup Julian Hill has 288 total yards in three career seasons, and CJ Dippre has never caught a pass in the NFL.<\/p>\n

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Linebacker<\/p>\n

Although it isn\u2019t sexy, the Patriots need an off-ball linebacker. Robert Spillane was a tackling machine, but when he went down with an injury, it was Jack Gibbens who was asked to step up. Gibbens has signed elsewhere, and his absence is felt on the depth chart.<\/p>\n

Wide Receiver<\/p>\n

The Patriots are going to draft a wide receiver in this year\u2019s extremely deep class. Although quarterback Drake Maye has proven that he does not need a stacked pass-catching unit to put together a winning offense, there is a lot of room for improvement in this room.<\/p>\n

Offensive Tackle<\/p>\n

The Patriots have all five starting slots filled on the offensive line. But with Morgan Moses getting up there in age, and Alijah Vera-Tucker struggling to stay healthy, I expect New England to draft a developmental prospect with the hopes of making him the tackle of the future opposite Will Campbell.<\/p>\n

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Defensive Back Depth<\/p>\n

Like the offensive line, the Patritos don\u2019t need to draft a starter at defensive back. But the depth behind aging defensive backs Carlton Davis III and Kevin Byard is uninspiring. I expect to see a pick used on both safety and cornerback.<\/p>\n

More NFL:\u00a0All New England Patriots Picks 2026 NFL Draft<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Patriots Draft Needs 2026 NFL Draft originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":586200,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[1827,64,63,286887,119569,253802,5374,19985,284486,157307,42502,92972,5384,1231,593,190374,85,23937],"class_list":{"0":"post-586199","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-2025-nfl-draft","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-backup-julian-hill","12":"tag-carlton-davis","13":"tag-cj-dippre","14":"tag-drake-maye","15":"tag-hunter-henry","16":"tag-jack-gibbens","17":"tag-kevin-byard","18":"tag-mike-vrabel","19":"tag-morgan-moses","20":"tag-new-england","21":"tag-new-england-patriots","22":"tag-nfl","23":"tag-robert-spillane","24":"tag-sports","25":"tag-will-campbell"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=586199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586199\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/586200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=586199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=586199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=586199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}